PACT-Ottawa Project Northern Outreach ​

Project Northern Outreach is part of PACT-Ottawa’s human trafficking awareness initiatives. The focus on outreach in the North Shore came from relationship between Ojibwe Grandmother, Isabelle Meawasige, Serpent River First Nations, and co-founder of PACT, Sheila Smith, RSCJ.

The main project objective is to create partnerships among PACT, a core circle of Anishinaabek Grandmothers and frontline workers so as to address sex trafficking and exploitation in Anishinabek communities. An Anishinaabe worldview respects Grandmothers as authorities, educators and keepers of their cultural and foundational laws.

Project Summary:Project Northern Outreach supports a circle of Anishinaabe Grandmothers to form an action alliance designed to understand the nature of trafficking in their communities, and prevent human trafficking through advocacy, education of cultural teachings and healing practices.

Project Northern Outreach provides assistance to a core circle of Grandmothers by convening 3 gatherings of 12 respected grandmothers from the areas of Sault St Marie, Thessalon, and Manitoulin Island. The group shared information, expertise, gathered resources, created actionable goals, and shared teaching stories with the Front line workers, youth, students, leadership and community members at large. In total the project reach 705 Anishinabek community members.PACT’s existing educational material was revised based on the guidance of the Grandmothers. The purpose was to reflect cultural relevancy based on community reality and socio-cultural context. The revised presentations initially grounded in the PACT’s Project ImPACT were piloted at a community level and presented to 8 different community-based organizations.

The Grandmothers and frontline workers have identified that human trafficking occurs due a breakdown in Aboriginal governance systems that traditionally provided life stage knowledge, natural law and cultural teachings. It is well-known by Aboriginal peoples and well-researched that this breakdown is due to assimilation policies in Canada such as the Indian Residential School system, as well as ongoing attitudes and structures that continue to be rooted in the colonial matrix of power (paternalism, racism, sexism) and result in intergenerational trauma.Moving forward, the core circle of Grandmothers have identified priorities to prevent and to address human trafficking of their young Anishnabek women and men:

Advocate, educate and to create awareness about human trafficking in their respective schools, health centers, police services, social services, Friendship centers, and band council

Strengthen cultural competency through teaching life stage teachings and community roles and responsibilities, cultural bundles

Develop Anishinaabe-centered educational material, and presentations that reflect the human trafficking reality from an Aboriginal perspective and research emerging from and by the community.

Grandmother Wisdom:

“This is important work. We are getting back our bundles and that is sacred work… Our men forgot their roles to protect and to provide. We must also include our men in this work.” Genny Jacko, Anishnaabe Grandmother

“When children have hardship times, it is recorded against you as CAS as parents. Parents need support to when our children are trafficked. We need to re-educate and ground our youth’s spirit. Our teachings need to be out there” Alison Recollet, Anishinaabe Grandmother

“We need to know each other’s truths and understand each other. We are in that time in the world today, there is powerful energy in every kind of movement. It is challenging us to move forward, to pick up our bundles and take over in governance, politics, and healing” Alma Jean Migwans, Anishnaabe Grandmother

“As sisters we were responsible for teaching each other what we learned. My gramma taught me how to live, about the land, about men, about plants and how to take care of them and to make it grow” Roberta Oshkabewisens, Anishinaabe Grandmother

“We just cannot lose another one of our girls to human trafficking” Isabelle Meawasige, Anishinaabe Grandmother.

If you would like to learn more about a cultural-based perspective on Human Trafficking, contact Roberta Oshkabewisens and/or Isabelle Meawasige, Grandmothers, PACT Facilitators and Members of PACT Ottawa. They can offer an information session in your organization, school or community center.